There is no better way to address the security threat emanating from ISIS and other terrorist groups in Afghanistan than by co-opting the Taliban, asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Counter-terrorism experts from India, Pakistan and other member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation on Monday deliberated on boosting cooperation in combating various regional security challenges at a meeting hosted by New Delhi.
Any Indian government at this juncture would have voted and spoken exactly this way. It isn't just about the vast Indian dependence on Russian-origin military equipment. It is also about trust, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
On a landmark visit to Russia to 'reset' ties between the two Cold War foes, United States President Barack Obama on Tuesday sought Moscow's cooperation in defeating terrorism, as he declared that neither America nor Russia has an interest in an Afghanistan or Pakistan governed by the Taliban. He expressed happiness over Russia agreeing to allow the US to send supplies to the coalition forces in Afghanistan through its territory.
China on Thursday said Beijing views the BRICS as an "open and inclusive" platform and it backs moves to expand the five-member grouping with "like-minded partners".
Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif will attend the SCO defence ministers' meeting in New Delhi on Friday through virtual mode, according to an official readout.
Russia hinted that militants trained at Pakistan-Afghanistan border could be behind the twin blasts at metro stations here that killed 39 people and wounded 60 others.
New Delhi must indicate to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani that it has a long-term strategy for his country. It should point out that Pakistan's present Afgan policy will destabilise Afghanistan and help Islamic State, says Gautam Sen.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh fted Russian President Dmitry Medvedev over lunch at home on Tuesday, but before that a bagful of agreements were signed at Hyderabad House in the capital, as well as on the margins of the summit, signalling that the suspicion and mutual agreement, which has been a key feature of the recent past, now truly belonged there.
China said that it would not attend the security dialogue on Afghanistan convened by India due to "scheduling reasons".
India on Monday signed a path-breaking broad-based agreement in the civil nuclear field with Russia, which will ensure transfer of technology and uninterrupted uranium fuel supplies to its nuclear reactors, and inked three pacts in the defence sector. The agreements were signed after talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the Kremlin in Moscow, during which they discussed a whole range of issues.
China's Ambassador to Afghanistan Wang Yu and Acting Minister of Refugee Affairs of the Afghan caretaker government Khalil-ur-Rehman Haqqani attended the handover ceremony at the airport.
Ahmed Shah Massoud's assassination, 9/11 and the defeat and ejection of the Taliban suggested a break in Afghanistan's history, but the events of August 2021 and the Taliban's return shows how deeper continuities remained in place, points out T C A Raghavan, former Indian high commissioner to Pakistan.
The United States is planning to use the services of an Indian satellite to get quicker weather information in war-torn Afghanistan, crucial for the movement of its military assets, the Pentagon has said.
The talks took place in a beach resort in Benaulim on the sidelines of a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
In his opening remarks at the virtual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Modi also said that some countries use cross-border terrorism as an instrument of their policy and the grouping must not hesitate to criticise them.
India would not be seen to be anything but rude with the Pakistanis. In the big picture, who is the bigger adversary right now? Who is the bigger pain in the neck? And who is it that is keeping more than 3,000 km of our borders active, throwing our military posture and deployments into imbalance? asks Shekhar Gupta.
Unless the Taliban goofs up in a big way, which seems highly unlikely, we are looking at a regime that will be around for quite a long while and present a level of governance that the puppets of the richest and most advanced countries failed to provide, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The terrible beauty of Doval's initiative is that it is all about a new journey rather than about a set compass pointing toward a pre-determined destination, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The unalloyed truth about the Ukraine-Russia conflict is that it is a war that Russia cannot lose and Ukraine cannot win, observes Colonel Anil Athale (retd).
'Nine missiles from India had been pointed towards Pakistan, to be launched any time that day'
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Amul will now export dairy products to Russia.
The Indian side expressed readiness to provide extensive humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, Mujahid was quoted as saying by Afghanistan's Tolo News.
India and Russia will sign a framework agreement in civil nuclear field and three pacts in defence sector during the three-day visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh beginning on Sunday.
'We're hitting at the core strength of our armed forces.'
The Taliban's main challenge comes on the financial and economic front and there Pakistan doesn't have the capacity to be of any meaningful help, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
During the day-long visit, the Pakistani delegation will hold talks with Afghanistan's acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and call on leadership of the interim government in Kabul and other Afghan leaders, according to Foreign Office.
If military power is all it would take to finish the menace of an awful terrorist organisation like Hamas, how come five Israeli wars in Gaza since 2003 have failed to do so? asks Shekhar Gupta.
The Council adopted the resolution proposed by France, the United Kingdom and the United States with 13 Council members voting in favour and Russia and China abstaining.
"The deal is being implemented. We witnessed attempts on the part of the US to undermine this cooperation and make India obey the American orders to follow the American vision of how this region should be developed," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to hold bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart Li Shangfu on the sidelines of the SCO defence ministerial conclave in Delhi, people familiar with the matter said.
Russian news agency TASS, quoting a Kremlin official, said holding of the RIC (Russia-India-China) summit figured in during a recent video conference between President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
After two decades, the SCO appears to be at a cross-roads with the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, asserts Srikanth Kondapalli, the leading China expert.
Biden's lengthy remarks on Afghanistan contained no condemnatory references to the Taliban, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar, who played a stellar role in beginning India's systemic dealings in Afghanistan in 1994.
'Surely, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will not be able to pay or compensate the Russians for deployment and use of Russian men and equipment,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
US President Barack Obama arrived in Moscow on Monday on a maiden visit to Russia to 'reset' the damaged bilateral ties and sign new accords, including a landmark arms reduction treaty to replace a Cold War era nuclear pact. He is accompanied by First Lady Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia.
Gen Pande said India will have to especially watch out for the stance of its two adversaries in the emerging geopolitical scenario, in an oblique reference to China and Pakistan.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday arrived in Moscow on the first leg of a two-nation visit, during which he will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to strengthen bilateral strategic partnership.
The Taliban knows that Washington holds the key, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
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